Sunday, April 17, 2011

Multi-Tasking Sunday

Today is the Maple Festival parade, and we are cursed with the usual Maple Festival weather -- which is to say, crap. Cold, blustery, spitting snow or sleet. Though I must admit, the sun came out for a few blessed minutes while Mr. Jefferies and I went out to bring the compost out and check on the garden. But I'm not going to bother going to the parade.

Meanwhile, I've been updating a laptop that was unplugged from the internet for (apparently) too long. It's been stuck on "installing update 12 of 22" for the last.... oh, I don't know... three hours? I think I might have to do a hard shutdown and start it back up again. Oh joy.

I didn't waste the time while waiting, though. I started a new bag for felting. I've got that felted bag class to teach in June, and I promised to bring a bunch of felted bags for show and tell. When I made the promise, I had forgotten that I had sent many of them to church bazaars and such, last fall. Smart me!

But I've been having fun making them. Mr. Jefferies approves, as well:

He looks like he's contemplating riding this one (pre-felting) down the stairs, doesn't he?

So about the garden, the poor garden. We've got proof that the cheap coldframe works. Here is what those seedlings that I put out last week look like inside the coldframe:

Some of them are struggling, but at least they are alive.

The ones in the uncovered bed: dead and gone.

I removed their carcasses and chucked them to the side this morning, so that I could plant rows of these in their place:

I've made a decision not to bother planting peas this year. I find they are too space-hogging and labor-intensive to harvest, and they are never ready for eating here until about July 4th or later, which leaves me wishing I had that space for planting tomatoes or other things sooner than they are ready, and it's an awkward time to suddenly have a large blank spot in the garden. Of course, I will probably change my mind by the end of next week, and anyone walking by would catch me out there planting pea seeds. Fickleness is a gardener's prerogative.

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Stick some peas in a couple of old tires with a cheap tomato cage in the middle for them to climb on. No guilt over wasted garden space, and perhaps you'll have a few handfuls of peas to munch on. 37 garlic up here to date!

I should look into how to make a cheap cold frame, though I admit after last year's meager harvest that I'm more likely to put a net over the whole thing to stop birds and squirrels from eating my produce!

Originally developed as a top-classified ‘black’ program SYERS but with the declassification of the U-2 program, this sensor was also declassified. The original SYERS used the DB-110 EO system (currently configured in tactical recce pods). The DB-110 platform provides the rotating nose section which aims the sensor’s line of sight at the required area of interest, enabling automatic scan using automatically scan methods, including continuous, push broom, or still-frame.

The original dual-band SYERS sensor flown on the U-2 ISR platform was manufactured by Goodrich ISR Systems.

The SYERS sensor flown on the U-2 ISR platform was manufactured by Goodrich ISR Systems. The upgraded sensors, designated SYERS-2A, will enhance U-2 functionality by adding additional multi-spectral imaging capability to the platform, providing more utility in discerning imagery.

Multi-spectral sensors capture images at specific frequencies across the electromagnetic spectrum enhancing the sensor’s capability to obtain high resolution imagery under adverse weather conditions of haze and light fog.

Multi-spectral enhanced images provided by the payload are used for targeting, threat analysis, and situational assessment, by evaluating changes in images taken in different times, showing differences not readily apparent to the human eye.